6/03/2007

After a relatively short period of the last two Piasts, a new dynasty inherited the throne of Poland - the Jagiellons. Their ancestors had been the princes of Lithuania, the last non-Christian country in Europe. The last pagan prince, Wladyslaw Jagiello, was in a dire need of securing his country from the Teutonic knights' attacks, which - as it was claimed - were meant to fight the heathens.  In 1385, the Act of Union between Poland and the Lithuania was agreed upon. A short time after that, Wladyslaw was baptized, married Jadwiga and sat on the throne of the Polish king.

 Thus began what historians often regard as the most prosperous period in the whole history of the country. As soon as in the 15th century, the Teutonic knights were defeated in two wars and their state on the seaside lost most of its power and prestige. After that, in 1525, they officially accepted Polish kings as their overlords and pledged obedience to them.
The new Polish-Lithuanian state was of an enormous size, but this growth and vastness meant certain new problems: conflicts with Russia and Sweden, although in the 16th century neither of the two enemies might have seemed very dangerous.
The Lublin Union of 1569 closely united Poland and Lithuania, forming the Commonwealth of the Both Nations, which were to enjoy equal rights in it.
The culture and literature flourished more than ever before throughout the Renaissance period. The first writers using the Polish language, among them Mikolaj Rej, appeared; Jan Kochanowski gained substantial popularity with educated Poles. Magnificent palaces, churches and town halls in the new style of Renaissance, imported from Italy, were being erected in large numbers. Zamosc, the whole new town, was built.
When the first Protestants priests came to Poland from the West of Europe, their religious ideas started to spread among society. They promoted detailed knowledge of the Bible, which before long was translated into Polish, among all educated people rather than just clergy. One might have thought that the prosperity and peace would last forever. Still, that was not to happen.
After the death of the last Jagiellon, Sigismund II August, there was no son of his to inherit the throne. It became necessary to elect the king, in which all noblemen were allowed to participate; nowhere else in Europe could one see such procedures at the time. The situation was to cause serious problems, as it required rather a long time to gather near Warsaw and agree who would be a new monarch. What is worse, money was frequently accepted from foreign diplomats in exchange for supporting their candidates. Already in 1588, an Austrian prince tried to win the Polish throne with military power, but he was defeated by the army loyal to the other candidate, the son of the Swedish king.
It was the winner, Sigismund III, who started the Polish branch of the Vasa dynasty. He and his two successors conducted quite similar politics: they fervently supported Catholic Church, allied with the Austrian Empire of the Habsburgs, and fought Sweden by diplomatic means. This all brought about several wars; one of them, called the Deluge (1655-1660), caused terrible devastation and appalling loss of life throughout the country, as the Swedish army occupied a greater part of it. Another threat was posed by Cossacks who rebelled against local Polish landlords; that caused a disastrous civil war. Russia intervened and the Commonwealth lost some of their eastern territories. As if all this had not been enough, Turkey invaded Poland several times and conquered its southern part. The country was devastated and poor, and its financial potential on the verge of exhaustion; there was another civil war when Jan Kazimierz tried to strengthen the royal power and found himself in conflict with a powerful magnate. The only brighter period by the end of the 17th century was when Jan III Sobieski managed to defend the country against the Turkish invasion and ensured peace. Cities and trade began to recover slowly.
However, the period of peace was not to last for long. Three neighbouring countries, Russia, Prussia and Austria had grown strong enough to started to intervene in Polish internal affairs continuously. The last Polish kings were unable to resist, as the army was small and obsolete, their power weak, and the noblemen cared mostly about their own good. The country was growing weaker, the Northern War (last Swedish invasion, 1700-1709) and civil skirmishes destroyed much of what had been rebuilt and when Stanislaw August became the king in 1764, it seemed to be too late to change anything. Still, the king desperately tried to prevent the worst. He allied with Russia, as its ruler seemed to accept the existence of Poland upon the condition of maintaining strong influence in all its affairs, and started promoting education and culture. He wanted to change the way Poles thought about the world, made them wiser and ready to cope with the danger of losing independence. It was soon noticed and the monarchs of neighbouring powers took the first opportunity to start partition, taking areas along the border under their control. It did not stop the wise king who managed to have some achievements; finally, in 1791, he helped to introduce the Constitution which made really important changes in the political system of Poland and Lithuania. However, it provoked the disastrous counteraction immediately. Russia and Prussia agreed to divide the rest of Polish territory and after the defeat of the Kosciuszko Uprising they took it all, helped by Austria.
Thus, the dark period of national enslavement began. In spite of the uprisings of 1831 and 1863 and the short-time hope associated to Napoleon, Poland remained partitioned for about 120 years. The three foreign powers introduced their own laws, political systems and languages as official, although the conditions of life were not the same for all the Poles. It might have been possible to develop culture and education like in Galicia, and even have a semi-independent government in the so-called Kingdom of Poland. However, especially after the defeated uprisings, very little freedom was left.

Marcin Gronowski

more:
Polish History in 10 minutes
History of Poland in brief - Piasts Dynasty